Author(s): Marco Vicari; Fuding Xu; Tingting Wu
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Integrity; Flexibility; Permeability; Environmental integration; Training works
Abstract: Wire mesh gabions structures have been introduced since now 120 years in the civil engineering applications. Thanks to their inherent properties (monolithicity, flexibility, permeability, environmental integration, ease of installation), gabions have been widely spread in civil works and especially in hydraulic applications. They offer a technical, economical and esthetical alternative to more traditional solutions such as rip-rap protection, concrete or sheet pile walls and have shown an extraordinary capability for regeneration of the natural environment, since gabions and mattresses are filled with stones, soil and roots which eventually provide favourable developmental conditions. Apart from the integration aspects, a recent study has demonstrated how the use of gabions and Reno mattresses is a solution which reduces the impact on climate change, having a lower carbon footprint than the one of the equivalent traditional engineering solutions in terms of CO2 emissions. The paper focuses on their recent applications in major river training works carried out in China in very different conditions both from the design and the installation viewpoints: - The Chongqing channel, part of the upper reach of the Yangtze river, is a channel regulation project aimed to make better use of the Yangtze river as waterway for inland water transportation. Due to the high cost of rip-rap and the difficulty for its proper underwater installation, sack gabions have been adopted for the protection of the banks. - The Jia Yu Yan Zi Wo channel (Hubei) is part of the middle reach of Yangtze river; Fuxing island is a reed island that lies in the channel and is affected by serious erosion problems occurring to its banks due to the action of both currents and ship waves. Traditional rigid structures have shown to be inadequate do to their lack of flexibility with respect to differential settlements: for this reason gabions and mattresses have been used for the protection of the banks. - For the AnQing channel regulation project, in the lower reaches of Yangtze river, mattresses and macmat-r have been used in order to stabilise the existing river channels to control the development of new branches and to maintain the integrity of the XinHe island. The paper gives full details of the design criteria adopted for the selection of the solutions, together with an evaluation of their performances some years after their installation.
Year: 2013